


Star Hire

by wackyjacqs



Series: Bizarre Holidays [247]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Reality, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26341087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wackyjacqs/pseuds/wackyjacqs
Summary: “That’sDoctor Carter?” he asks.“Yes, Jack,” she smiles.“That’sSam Carter – as in,SamanthaCarter.”“You never said it was a woman.”
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Series: Bizarre Holidays [247]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1234973
Comments: 24
Kudos: 112





	Star Hire

**Author's Note:**

> Written for ‘Global Talent Acquisition Day’ (02 September). Alternate reality.

Jack tugs on the collar of his dress blues shirt and grimaces.

“I hate this thing.”

He hears Catherine Langford chuckle beside him before she glances over and swats his hand away. When he raises a brow in surprise, she shrugs, “this won’t take long.”

“Yeah, about that,” Jack challenges as he lets his hand fall by his side, “are you sure this Doctor Carter can be trusted?”

“Yes.”

Despite her certainty, Jack studies her for a moment, then nods. He pulls open the door and gestures for Catherine to go first. The lecture hall is half-full of students but the attention of every single one of them is rooted on the woman at the front of the room. For a moment, he doesn’t blame them. The speaker is young and beautiful and he quickly finds himself entranced by the way her blue eyes sparkle and the sound of her voice – even if he doesn’t understand two out of every three words that are leaving her mouth.

He grunts at the hard nudge he receives to the ribs and dutifully follows Catherine to a row of empty seats in the back of the hall. They’re only sitting for a few minutes when the lecture is drawn to a close and the students start to gather their belongings when Jack turns to face Catherine.

_“That’s_ Doctor Carter?” he asks.

“Yes, Jack,” she smiles. _“That’s_ Sam Carter – as in, _Samantha_ Carter.”

“You never said it was a woman.”

“Oh, didn’t I?” Catherine says distractedly as she gets to her feet and studiously avoids his gaze. He watches her shrewdly for a moment before he follows her down the stairs and towards the front of the room.

Catherine has almost reached Sam by the time Jack catches up, but he chooses to remain a few feet away from the two women.

_“Samantha!”_

The younger woman looks up immediately at the sound of her name and her surprise, then glee, upon seeing Catherine is evident. She abandons packing her briefcase and makes her way around the desk to give Catherine a hug.

“Catherine,” she smiles, then pulls back, “it’s good to see you.” Doctor Carter’s gaze then darts to Jack and she sobers. “What’s going on?”

Catherine takes a deep breath and glances back at Jack. He tears his gaze away from Sam and nods.

“We need your help.”

* * *

“I need a coffee,” Sam mumbles, running a hand over her face.

She gets to her feet, stretching out her cramped muscles, and heads up the spiral staircase towards the briefing room. It’s empty, for which she’s thankful as it’s only now that she’s alone, that she realizes she needs the silence and solitude before she goes back to her work.

_Work._

She shakes her head in amusement. Just hours earlier, her work had consisted of lecturing physics to cadets at the USAF Academy and now she was… well, now she was dealing with alien technology. She fills a polystyrene cup with what seems to be lukewarm coffee and she grimaces, but decides it’ll have to do. She hasn’t had a complete tour of the base yet and doesn’t fancy getting lost. She makes her way over to the large glass windows that overlook the Stargate and she can’t help but smile.

“Taking a break, are we Doctor?”

Sam turns at the question to see Jack O’Neill walking towards her, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his BDUs. He doesn’t sound angry or patronizing, or even demanding of an answer, so she finds herself holding back on the need to defend herself and nods. “I just needed a few minutes, General.”

“Ah,” he says with a frown and a wave of his hand, “you’re not Air Force. Please, call me Jack.”

“Okay... Jack,” she says slowly. “I just needed a few minutes.”

He chuckles softly and crosses his arms over his chest before he gestures towards the Stargate with a nod.

“It’s pretty neat, huh?”

“It’s... incredible,” she breathes as she turns her own attention back to the gate. “Even the energy alone it’s – it’s astronomical, and when the –” she stops abruptly when she sees his eyes start to glaze over and she blushes. “Sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“When I start to talk about science, I tend to –” She shrugs self-consciously as he continues to stare and she takes a sip of her coffee, “I heard you don’t like scientists.”

“Who told you that?”

“Catherine,” she replies, raising a brow as if challenging him to argue. He sighs.

“Yeah, but there’s always an exception to the rule.”

Sam turns to him in surprise. “Really?”

“Oh yeah,” he says as he leans against the briefing room table and grins, “just don’t tell anyone. I’ve a reputation to uphold,” he adds, lowering his voice.

She laughs softly and ducks her chin, so she misses the way he smiles at her. “Well, don’t worry, sir,” she says as she meets his eye again, “your secret is safe with me.”

There’s a beat of silence that passes as they hold each other’s gaze when Jack pushes away from the table and gestures towards his office. She follows and he closes the door behind her before he tells her to take a seat.

“So, Doctor Carter,” he says as he sits down behind his desk, “how are things going? Really?”

She observes him for a moment but he does sound genuinely interested, so she thinks the least she can do is be honest. Especially since he’s partly responsible for her presence at the SGC now.

“Good,” she finally nods, then focuses on her coffee cup. “I think.”

Jack’s eyebrows raise. “You think?”

She shakes her head slightly and takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry; it _is_ good – and I appreciate being brought onboard; there’s just a lot of work that I need to do before I’ll be completely happy with everything.”

He nods then glances at a page on his desk. “Catherine says the whole dialing program needs a reboot.”

“Yes, sir,” Sam says in agreement, “and I know it is going to take time, of which we don’t have a lot of right now, not to mention additional expense, but I know I can make it more efficient, safer and cost-effective in the long run.”

Jack studies her a moment before he smiles. “Of that I have no doubt.”

When she cants her head, he offers her a half-shrug. “Catherine told me you were smart – and resourceful. I’m starting to see that,” he adds, before he picks up the page he was looking at moments earlier, “even if I don’t understand most of what you’ve written here.”

Sam feels herself blush, and starts to defend herself, when the General interrupts. “Don’t get me wrong, Carter,” he says as he leans back in his chair, “consider the SGC at your disposal – and whatever else you need to get everything in place to help keep my people safe.”

“Thank you, General.” When he narrows his eyes, she pulls a face. “Sorry... Jack.”

“Yes, well,” he says non-committally. “However, the shrubs in Washington are going to want further justification as to why you’ll need... whatever it is you’re going to need,” he trails off, “so–”

“I’ll have my report ready by the end of the day.”

“Will I be able to understand it, Doctor?”

“Uh –”

“Because if I’m going to have to fight for the future of this Program, I kind of need to know what, exactly, I’m defending,” he explains.

Sam’s expression clears. “Oh,” she says softly, then nods. “You’ll receive a copy of my report too, and,” she then takes a breath and holds his gaze, “I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.”

He watches her for a moment before his lips twitch into the semblance of a smile.

“How about dinner in the mess hall? Nineteen hundred hours?”

His invitation surprises Sam but she quickly recovers and finds herself smiling. “Sounds like a date, General.” Her eyes widen. “I mean–”

“It’s Jack,” he interrupts.

_“Jack,”_ she repeats warmly. He watches her for a moment before movement in the briefing room catches his eye. It’s Daniel, and Sam turns and follows his gaze. “I, ah, I should be –” She points over her shoulder as Jack gets to his feet and makes his way around the desk.

“In that case, Doctor,” he says as he rests a hand on the doorknob and places his other hand on the small of her back, “I’ll see you later.”

“It’s Samantha,” she corrects as she steps out of his office.

She almost reaches Daniel when Jack says, “Oh! One last thing. Welcome aboard, _Samantha.”_

Sam smiles brightly at him before she turns on her heel. Jack watches her as she passes Daniel at the coffee maker and says hi, before his friend makes his way across the briefing room. He watches Jack for a moment, then glances after Sam, raises his eyebrows and returns his attention to Jack.

“Shut up,” Jack mutters as he turns and heads for his office, but he can’t stop a smile from forming.

**Author's Note:**

> Still no laptop. Still not a happy camper.


End file.
